Autumn 2008 Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope that you all had a wonderful summer, despite the fact that it was raining a lot, and that you are all rested and looking forward to our new term. For those that are not sure, it will start on the 8th of September 2008 and will finish 5th of December 2008. Our half term brake is sheduled for the week starting on the 27th October till 31st October in lane with the KCC school term.

For the Pipkins Nursery team this autumn is going to be an exciting one as there are several changes taking place:

Welcome Mrs St Pier!

Some of you might already know that our lovely Miss Pattinson is expecting a baby. (still expecting at the time of this letter). Hopefully, her baby will arrive at the beginning of September. As you already guessed, Miss Pattinson won't be coming back to work for another 9-12 months. She will be replaced by Mrs Karen St.Pier. Some of you might know her already as her daughter Jasmine spent several terms with us at Pipkins.

Mrs St.Pier is a fully qualified teacher who will be covering for Miss Pattinson on Mondays. Tuesdays to Fridays will be covered by our lovely Mrs Jeffery. From efficiency point of view, we thought that it would be beneficial both to Mrs Jeffery and our nursery if she worked at the same place instead of commuting to our Chevening nursery as well. If you think that you will be effected by this change, please don't hesitate to contact Magdalena at magdalena@pipkinsnurseries.com or phoning 0870 446 0025.

New Early Years Foundation Stage - (EYFS) is here!

There is nothing to worry about. What it means is that the curriculum of the Birth to Three Matters and the Early Fundation Stage are now joined into one document called EYFS. There are not many changes to the curriculum itself. However, our work and planning will place more emphasis on the environment children spend their time in as ever before. Teaching professionals and OFSTED believes that when the environment is right, learning will happen much easier.

Key Person System

There is another change that starts in September and that is the Key Person System. Some nurseries already operated and used a so called Kew worker system that is very similar to the one introduced by OFSTED from September this year.

All children will be assigned a key person who will look after them most of the time and will be your primary contact. You all will be given a name of this person at the beginning of the term.

Especially for the younger children and the new starters it will be important that the key person will:

  1. Help them to settle into the nursery by building a relationship of friendship and trust.

  2. She will keep development records of your child including formal observations and anecdotal observations in the scrap books we all came to love and enjoy.

    These observations will be available to you anytime during the term time. Please arrange a time with your key person if you'd like to come and see how your child is doing and progressing.

  3. We would also like to build a photo album for each child with pictures of their home, friends, and activities that your son/daughter enjoys. These photos proved to be very popular with children, especially when giving them a chance to talk about their feelings and describe their immediate environment.

  4. Key person will also have a total overview of your child's achievements and needs. Therefore she will contribute to the planning with her own ideas and will share her knowledge with the rest of our team.

  5. At the end of your child's stay at Pipkins, we will return all the observations, scrap books and art work to you.

  6. Key persons will contribute to preparing records of transfer for your child which you are welcome to contribute towards. At the end we will ask you to sign the record giving us your consent to share it with the primary school of your choice.



Best Practice for Lunchtime and Management

After careful consideration and your contribution of ideas as parents we decided to introduce these snack time and lunch rules:

  1. Pipkins Nursery offers free drinks of milk and water. Children also have an access to water at all times so that we can avoid cases of dehydration. When we serve milk at snack times, we will take it out of the fridge to take the chill of it. Only on warm days, we will serve the milk directly from the fridge.

  2. We will encourage social vocabulary by allowing children to hand out plates to the rest of them saying “please” and “thank you”.

  3. When possible, children will take part in preparation of fruit and handing it out to the rest of them. At this point, adults might join in acting as a model and example to the correct social interaction.

  4. We will never force your child to drink up all the milk or water, however, we will encourage them to do so. We would welcome your input here, please talk to us and let us know what works for you at home.

Lunch:

  1. At the beginning of each meal, we will say grace after which children will be free to enjoy their packed lunches.

  2. We will encourage your child to eat the savoury elements of his/her lunch first before the sweet.

  3. We will encourage your child to eat as much as he/she can, however, we will never force them to eat it all if they don't want to. We will also put all the uneaten food back to the lunch box so that you know exactly how much your child has eaten.

  4. When it comes to the choice of food you pack, we would like to ask you to avoid all unhealthy food such as crisps, chocolates, biscuits and sweeties. Not only that they are unhealthy but they also create envy among other children. We welcome yoghurt and fruit purées of all types. However, please try to avoid any messy fruibies and lollies. When stuck for ideas, fresh fruit and vegetables such as carrots and cucumbers are always a good idea. Children have an access to water and milk at all times so there is no need to pack any juices or sweet drinks.

Once again, we would like to hear from you, please help us with new recipes and ideas. We would like to build up a database of your ideas and publish it on our website.

Uniform

Our last innovation came as a request from you, parents. We were asked by you to introduce uniforms for children in order to eliminate envy and arguments among children when dressing up for the nursery.

We understand that the times are difficult and also that you did not get much warning before the term starts, therefore please feel free to buy the uniform anytime during the first half term. (the deadline is 27th October)

So, what can children wear?

The theme is white and blue in all combination you can come up with. Normally, children would wear blue trousers and a white t-shirt with a navy blue cardigan on top. In summer, there are lovely uniforms available for girls in a form of stripy or check dresses with short sleeves.

If in any doubt, please ask Mrs Jeffery, St Pier or your key person for help and advice.


The End!

Congratulations! You reached the end of our news letter. Please don't forget that we are here to listen to your ideas and needs. You can always call Magdalena on 0870 446 0025 or e-mail her at magdalena@pipkinsnurseries.com When she is out an about visiting nurseries, the answer phone will be switched on, please leave a message and she will be back in touch the same day or the next day latest.

Contact: Magdalena @ Combe House, Chichester Road, Dorking, RH4 1LR – 0870 446 0025

www.pipkinsnurseries.com and e-mail: magdalena@pipkinsnurseries.com